Lockheed's L-1011 "Tristar"

[bhk]

This article may be of interest to you blokes.
(It's amazing some of the things that we forget we have until we browse!)

My flight in a Tristar

[sgtmajor]

Lovely story Bruce and it was an amazing aircraft indeed. I remember flying on an L1011 at least twice....perhaps even a third time. Sometimes I count my blessings on all the "great" old planes I've had the luxury of traveling on. In today's world I despise flying.....not the actual act of flying....but all the junk associated with flying. It's no longer the "classy" way to travel but seems to be the cattle in the cattle car travel. Oh well....guess that just means I'm getting old and cranky. (smile)

Thanks again for the wonderful story and photo's!!

Cheers!

[bhk]

Thanks, Steve.
I've provided an update with a link to an excellent Aussie site about the Lockheed connection with Australia. The L-1011 reference comes under "Oddities".
It has photos not seen anywhere else.
www.lockheed.adastron.com/oddities/oddities.htm

The owner of the site has been a contact of mine over the years....not often but when something like this pops up I usually give Ron a shout.
I've given him an okay to reproduce my pix if he wishes too.

[bhk]

Sept 30, 2018 13:33:06 GMT -5 sgtmajor said:

.... It's no longer the "classy" way to travel but seems to be the cattle in the cattle car travel. Oh well....guess that just means I'm getting old and cranky. (smile)

No you're not....you are simply remembering when it wasn't necessary to fly as we have to today.
Those who aren't as old as us have no personal experience with the way we used to fly. They haven't any yardstick to go by because they have always flown in cattle-trucks.

It's like when I tell a younger person that I flew from Australia to New Zealand and return in a four-engined flying boat, with less than 30 passengers in it and which took six hours to cross the Tasman from Sydney to Auckland.
They are in awe of the fact and find it hard to believe.

Incidentally, and on that note, I and my two sisters belong to a small and rather elite group of people, which will disappear altogether within the next couple of decades.
The group is that of people who flew in a flying boat on a regular international air service operated by a major airline.
Because we were children at the time (I was 7), once we have gone that will be it.......unless Boeing or Airbus design and produce another flying boat for international services.

[cptroyce]

Sgt and Bruce

Certainly concur, wholeheartedly.
Flying today and I still do a bit of it, is like being on a bus or NY subway... with wings.

Tell people today that a Pan Am 747 had a full circular bar in first and a staircase to a beautiful lounge above the main cabin level; flight attendants that really cared about service; food that was taken seriously in all classes and they look at you with disbelief.

Forget about pre-security days, when you could just get the the terminal and go directly to the gate and get on if the door wasn't closed..often they'd hold the door if you ran fast enough.LOL

[bhk]

Sept 30, 2018 20:04:14 GMT -5 cptroyce said:

....Forget about pre-security days, when you could just get the the terminal and go directly to the gate and get on if the door wasn't closed..often they'd hold the door if you ran fast enough.LOL

That was a major 'plus' when I had to fly between Canberra and Sydney for regular meetings (when I was with Otis in Canberra...1984-1993).
Book your seat, pick the ticket up & pay for it on arrival 15-20 minutes before flight-time, wander out to the stairs when the flight was called and 40 minutes later you're departing the 'plane.
Now, just to fly the same route, you have to be at the airport ONE HOUR before departure time!!

[sgtmajor]

Oct 1, 2018 0:40:32 GMT -5 bhk said:

..... you have to be at the airport ONE HOUR before departure time!!

One Hour?? Most airports here recommend two hours!! (smile)

Plus....add the traffic in....WHEW!! You can have an exciting morning!!

Each spring I have to fly back to our home office in Duluth, Georgia for a meeting. It's hard to find direct flights anymore, unlike the days when there seemed to be an abundant of choices. I "USE".....(That's the key word here...."use") to drive to Los Angles (LAX) as it was about 95 miles from the house and Delta always has a direct flight to and from Atlanta, Georgia...their main headquarters.

So....my flight was to leave at 9:40 A.M. and my wife asked what time I was going to leave. I decided to leave the house at 4:30 A.M.....spend the 2 to 2.5 hour drive....find parking and then catch a bite of breakfast before the flight. Great idea......just didn't work out that way.

With the horrible traffic and all the security garbage...I went straight to the gate...arriving at 9:20 and Delta was in the final stages of boarding. I think I was the last person on the flight that day. Arrggghhhhh!!! Not to mentioned just a wee bit stressed. (Smile)

Haven't been back to LAX since. Ontario airport is about 45 minutes from here....but no direct flights. Usually will stop in Dallas for a plane change (Which is another story)..... but much less stressful.

Cheers,

[bhk]

Oct 1, 2018 7:54:24 GMT -5 sgtmajor said:

....(Which is another story)..... but much less stressful.

Well, here's another story, Steve....and also much less stressful.

In preparation of QANTAS taking delivery of it's 747's, they constructed a very large hangar at their Sydney base HQ to accommodate the new aircraft when maintenance was being done.

At the back of the hangar there was a small, two-person lift ('elevator' to you guys over there) which was made and installed by the company I worked for at the time.
This contraption was just big enough for one man and his toolbox and the intent was that it would convey said items to three working-stage levels at the tail of the aircraft, where he would alight to carry out the necessary checks/maintenance. The topmost level was for the strobe light and lightning-arrestor thingys on the very apex of the tail fin.

A workmate and I (we worked in the engineering section of the company) would do site inspections of this lift at the drop of a hat because we were both into aeronautica (still are) and it was a chance to spend a few hours plane spotting.

Fast forward to the arrival of the first 747 and on one particular day when we did a "site inspection", there it was, sitting outside the hangar, doors open, steps in place and not a soul anywhere near it.

When we did site visits to lift installations we often wore white dust-coats (that pic is from our company reunion in 2005) and carried a clipboard.
Bob suggested that we have a look inside the 'plane so, looking as if we belonged, up the steps we went.

We investigated that aircraft from top-to-bottom and front-to-back and not one person....nobody whatsoever....saw us do so or, if they did, they took no notice!

Try and do something like that today. It would be impossible and, if you tried it, all hell would break loose.

So yes, those times were better and definitely less stressful, because the term "hijacker" had yet to be coined and "terrorists" were nut-cases with AK47's running around in the jungles of Africa.